A Mirror Like No Other
by SmackLeQuack
Summary: Like first year, Harry once again has found the Mirror of Erised, but this time, he sees something, or someone, else. REVISED AND MORE ADDED TO THE STORY AND NOW COMPLETE
1. The Mirror of Wishes

A mirror, nothing but a plain old mirror. Or so he thought.

He had run into it incidentally one night, way back in his first year. And he had never understood the meaning of it.

It seemed to be a fluke, but it was exactly what he had wanted his whole life. His emerald green eyes would stare into it for hours at a time and keep him from sleeping each night he peered into the round, shiny object. It seemed so mystifying, but so real at the same time.

He never understood the meaning of it, it seemed to be lying. He'd see his family, something he'd always dreamed of having.

He had his best friend look into it, and he saw something else. A prefect, a quidditch captain, a whole new picture than what the green eyed boy had seen. And he never understood the meaning of it.

His adviser saw him peering into the shimmering object one night, and explained what the mirror portrayed. It only showed what was in the eye of the beholder. That was what his mentor told him.

But that was so many years ago, six to be exact. The Mirror of Erised had returned to Hogwarts, in the same place he had stumbled across it in that first year at the school of witch craft and wizardry. His jade eyes looked at it with such awe and adoration, seeing the mirror that had shown him exactly what he desired. And this time was no different.

He saw a family as always, the family he never had. The family that he had dreamt of, but now it seemed to be mocking him. He couldn't grasp it, not with the future he had in store. Tears formed in his eyes of emerald, and this time he couldn't send them away.

He never understood the meaning of it, why everything wrong had to happen to him. No one could fathom why he had to carry the extra burden of every wizard and witches' lives. And to make it harder, no one ever would.

So he stared at the mirror, trying to find comfort in the one thing that he never possessed. And at one point, he did. He saw it when just one person was looking back at him.

He never understood the meaning of it until it had been explained, but this time no clarification was needed. He gazed at the mirror with watery eyes and saw a girl smiling, a girl he had always seen as a sister, but now he saw her as more. He saw the young brunette haired teenager with the brown knowing eyes. The one witch who was the smartest young woman of their time, and maybe even of the century. The one girl he could have a good time with without being known as the boy who lived. The one who he had known since he came to Hogwarts and had watched grow up, and develop from a tiny flower bud to a blossoming flower. He saw the girl he fell in love with.


	2. Author's Note

Hey guys, what's going on?

Anyways, I'm just adding this to let you know that I'm working on a chapter of Hermione discovering the mirror, and it's still not finished, because I'm having difficulty of figuring out what to write, but I promise that it'll be worth waiting for.

Auf Wiedersehen!


	3. Hermione's Wishes

She stumbled into a room, a room like no other. She had never seen this room, and oddly enough, it was empty, completely bare except for a mirror.

It looked like a normal mirror, being in a frame of gold and just standing there with nothing astonishing about it. The way it reflected the light was no different than any other mirror imitated these beams. But the feeling that it presented itself with was unusual. It was as if the mirror had its own personality, or rather the personality and desires of others.

It looked like a normal mirror, but how false that observation was. She never understood the meaning of it. What the round, shiny object showed her had confused the smartest witch of their generation.

It really did look like a normal mirror, but after peering into it, she no longer had that perception. She expected to see herself. That was what the normal thing would have been. But that was not what she witnessed. Nothing even remotely close to her, at least nothing obvious.

Instead, she saw a boy. No, not a boy, a young man she knew quite well. He was more mature than anyone she had ever known, except for his occasional outbursts of fury when he was angry.

But he was far from angry in this picture. His emerald green eyes seemed to be lit with happiness and joy, as if the burden of killing Voldemort had been lifted and taken away forever. As if he was no longer the famous Boy Who Lived. The mess of jet black hair that rested atop his head was as sloppy as ever, but she wouldn't have it any other way. His round glasses were slightly tilted and his clothes were a slightly oversized and messy, but she smiled anyways. She wouldn't have it any other way.

His face appeared to be glowing with a light that was not something you could just give out. He was smiling, and he looked like he had not a care in the world.

The young bushy haired girl's smile grew ten times bigger as she took in everything that she saw in that mirror.

The mirror looked like nothing out of the ordinary, but how wrong that observation was. It shows not your appearance, it shows what is in the eye of the beholder. That's what her Headmaster had told her when she had asked him about it not too long ago.

Now returning again for the first time in a while, she sat down in front of the mirror with parchment, quill, and ink surrounding her. She looked up and smiled, seeing the same image she had seen before. She soon started scribbling away and finished as soon as she had started. Smiling, she stood up and walked to her Head Girl dormitory with the note folded. She found her stickers in which she used to close the letters and stuck one on the document. Picking up the letter, she walked next door and placed the letter down on Harry's bedside table and then left, smiling once again.


	4. A Letter of Truth

A letter, a plain old letter. Or so he thought.

He had found the letter when he had returned to his room after he had been thinking about the image he had seen in the mirror in his favorite spot on the school grounds, which was a spot in a tree by the lake. He never climbed up there, always using his broom, and that was how he had gotten back to his Head Boy dorm without being detected by Hermione, who was sleeping next door. Her sleeping form seemed so peaceful and serene, and to wake up such a beautiful creature would really be a crime.

It was a letter, a plain old letter, with nothing but a sticker on it to hold it together. He grabbed the note carefully and walked down quietly to the common room that the two shared.

He sat down in the big red lounge chair and opened the letter, careful not to tear the sticker. When he looked down at the bottom and saw who had written it, he smiled.

It was a letter, but it wasn't anything plain or boring. Opening it more, is green eyes scanned the note, fluttering open and closed as they examined every inch of the piece of parchment.

_**Dear Harry,**_

_**This may seem awkward coming from me, but after what I saw in a mirror I stumbled onto not too long ago, I had to tell you what I saw and what I feel now.**_

_**About a week or two ago, I stumbled onto a mirror. At first I thought, "What is a plain, old, regular mirror doing in this room, and why is the room empty?" but then I actually looked into it.**_

_**I expected to see myself, because that's what you normally find when you look into a mirror. But I was no where close to seeing myself in it. I was completely off appearance wise. Instead, I saw a young man, who happens to be one of the most responsible and mature people I will ever know. Sure, he can get quite angry at times, but I know it's not because he really is angry. It's because he has so much stress and pressure put onto his shoulders by millions and millions of wizards and witches around the world. And why he has to have that burden I'll never understand, but I do know he would never drop it and let those millions die. He'd do whatever he could to save as many as he possibly could.**_

Harry paused. It was hard to not cry while reading that letter. He glanced up at Hermione's room and saw a portion of her sleeping figure. He smiled, and then gathered up some more strength to continue reading.

_**I had always admired that about him. Not that he's heroic enough to try and save innocent peoples' lives, but the fact that he's brave enough to do it without just breaking down. That's a true strength, and it's not something that every person has. **_

_**Anyways, I was confused when I saw him. I really had expected to see me, I really did. But I didn't, so I sought after help. I consulted my headmaster about it, and all he told me was "It shows not your appearance, it shows what is in the eye of the beholder." **_

_**Still confused, I returned to the mirror and sat in front of it. And once again, I saw my friend, the one with emerald green eyes and jet black hair. But something was different about him. You see, in actual life, his eyes weren't as bright as they were in the mirror. The light in his actual eyes was going out, and stress was taking its toll on him. I sat and thought while still looking at his carefree figure in the mirror, trying to figure out a way to return the light to his eyes.**_

_**And so I did, which is why you have this letter. What better way to show how appreciated and loved you are than to express it to you in a letter, especially when expressing things through words is what I do best?**_

_**And now the hard part. **_

_**Even through words, it's hard to express the way I feel, and I still can't help but cry while I write this.**_

_**I love you, Harry Potter. That's as simple as I can put it. **_

Harry needed to stop again. This time he really was crying, though not crying the way girls do. His eyes were just watery, that's all. He took his long sweatshirt sleeve and wiped away the salty water and looked back up into Hermione's room. He looked away quickly, and then got up and walked into her room, careful as to not step on any of the floorboards that creaked.

He inched his way closed to her bed until he could see her face. It looked so angelic, and all he wanted to do was lay by her side and stare at her innocent and pure face. But, he had a note to finish reading. He crept his way out and sat back down again, grabbing the letter and gazing at it once again.

As he sat there, Hermione had been smiling, and she had been as soon as Harry had turned his back and made his way out of the room. She had heard a sniffle from the common room, so she poked an eye open and saw Harry sitting there, reading her letter. When she saw him get up, she quickly closed her eye and had continued to sleep until he had left. She poked an eye open again and saw him staring at the letter, and then went back to sleep, still smiling.

Turning around, Harry looked at Hermione once more, and then continued reading a little before where he had left off.

_**I love you, Harry Potter. That's as simple as I can put it. I love the way you smile when you ride your broom and the way you treat everyone so kindly and sweetly, even if they're annoying. I love the way your hair is always messed up and how it can never be tamed. I love your emerald green eyes and I love how all of your clothes are all slightly too big for you. I love how you procrastinate on all your projects and still end up getting decent grades on them even though you only put half of your effort into it. I love the way your glasses all seem to get broken and how you always come to me to fix them. I love your fits of anger even though they can be scary and I love how you always hold me when I'm having a bad day. I love how you never eat anything on the day of a quidditch match and then come back to the common room ready to fill up on food and butterbeer. I love the way you never step foot into a library and I love it how you always tease me for reading Hogwarts, A History so many times I've lost count. I love everything about you, Harry, and I really don't know what I would have done if I hadn't realized it.**_

_**I can understand if you don't feel the same way, because I wouldn't have figured it out if it wasn't for that mirror I found and Dumbledore. I can understand if you still see me as the little sister you've never had and nothing more. But please, don't let the awkwardness from this letter stand in the way of our friendship. Because I really don't know what I would do without you Harry, I really don't.**_

Harry paused again and examined the note. There were tear stains all over it at that part, and it was amazing how the ink hadn't smeared. He then went back to the note, noticing that there was barely anything left.

_**I love you so much, Harry and please don't leave me. I can't live another day without knowing that you'll never leave me. My life wouldn't be worth living.**_

_**Anyways, I know this still may seem awkward, but I had to get this off of my chest, and I hope you understand.**_

_**Love Always,**_

_**Hermione**_

Harry folded the note up and walked into her room again, this time not caring if he stepped on a creaky floorboard or if he bumped into something which would cause Hermione to wake up. Coming up to her bed, he kneeled down and set his arms on her bed, folding them in and laying his chin down on his arms, which caused the bed to squeak.

Being a light sleeper, Hermione woke up when she heard the squeak and blinked a few times before finding her warm honey eyes staring into his intense emerald ones.

Harry stared at her from a moment, and then sent his lips crashing into hers, catching Hermione by surprised.

Her eyes widened to the size of baseballs from the shock, but she soon relaxed and deepened the kiss before Harry pulled away.

He smiled at her and she smiled back, knowing that for the first time in their seven years at Hogwarts that something would last forever even with the dark times that lie ahead.


End file.
